This text tells the far-flung story of how local and global influences came to flavor Italian identity. The fusion of ancient Roman cuisine—which consisted of bread, wine, and olives—with the ...
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This text tells the far-flung story of how local and global influences came to flavor Italian identity. The fusion of ancient Roman cuisine—which consisted of bread, wine, and olives—with the barbarian diet—rooted in bread, milk, and meat—first formed the basics of modern eating across Europe. From there, the book highlights the importance of the Italian city in the development of gastronomic taste in the Middle Ages, the role of Arab traders in positioning the country as the supreme producers of pasta, and the nation's healthful contribution of vegetables to the fifteenth-century European diet. Italy became a receiving country with the discovery of the New World, absorbing corn, potatoes, and tomatoes into its national cuisine. As disaster dispersed Italians in the nineteenth century, new immigrant stereotypes portraying Italians as “macaroni eaters” spread. However, two world wars and globalization renewed the perception of Italy and its culture as unique in the world, and the production of food constitutes an important part of that uniqueness.Less

Italian Identity in the Kitchen, or Food and the Nation

Massimo Montanari

Published in print: 2013-07-23

This text tells the far-flung story of how local and global influences came to flavor Italian identity. The fusion of ancient Roman cuisine—which consisted of bread, wine, and olives—with the barbarian diet—rooted in bread, milk, and meat—first formed the basics of modern eating across Europe. From there, the book highlights the importance of the Italian city in the development of gastronomic taste in the Middle Ages, the role of Arab traders in positioning the country as the supreme producers of pasta, and the nation's healthful contribution of vegetables to the fifteenth-century European diet. Italy became a receiving country with the discovery of the New World, absorbing corn, potatoes, and tomatoes into its national cuisine. As disaster dispersed Italians in the nineteenth century, new immigrant stereotypes portraying Italians as “macaroni eaters” spread. However, two world wars and globalization renewed the perception of Italy and its culture as unique in the world, and the production of food constitutes an important part of that uniqueness.

This chapter examines how cookbook authors tried to use food and food preparation to define a Singaporean national identity by looking at cookbooks that claim to represent authentic Singaporean ...
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This chapter examines how cookbook authors tried to use food and food preparation to define a Singaporean national identity by looking at cookbooks that claim to represent authentic Singaporean cuisine. The range of recipes—specifically, their method and explanation—across time reveals a shifting national cuisine, reflecting demographic and class shifts yet working to establish rules about what constitutes national food. However, in a society where the kitchen has a diminished role, the purchase of a cookbook takes on a new meaning. When a cookbook is not being used to provide recipes, its function as an indicator of social status or of aspirationalism and as a signifier of traditional values becomes more prominent. The chapter then shows how food gives people an illusion of cultural connection that ultimately serves the government by endorsing a notion of racial harmony based on multiracialism, not multiculturalism.Less

The Pizza of Love

Nicole Tarulevicz

Published in print: 2013-12-20

This chapter examines how cookbook authors tried to use food and food preparation to define a Singaporean national identity by looking at cookbooks that claim to represent authentic Singaporean cuisine. The range of recipes—specifically, their method and explanation—across time reveals a shifting national cuisine, reflecting demographic and class shifts yet working to establish rules about what constitutes national food. However, in a society where the kitchen has a diminished role, the purchase of a cookbook takes on a new meaning. When a cookbook is not being used to provide recipes, its function as an indicator of social status or of aspirationalism and as a signifier of traditional values becomes more prominent. The chapter then shows how food gives people an illusion of cultural connection that ultimately serves the government by endorsing a notion of racial harmony based on multiracialism, not multiculturalism.